-ANI Defending the decision to provide minority (Muslim) reservation, Law Minister, Salman Khurshid on Sunday said that the Central Government had powers to grant quota to backwards castes of minority communities within the Hindu backward caste quota. The Election Commission has stayed the government decision to grant 4.5 percent reservation to minorities (Muslims) in government jobs and educational institutions due to ongoing state polls. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has opposed the move, contending...

-The Telegraph The Planning Commission has set up a committee to suggest an increase in corporate funding for higher education and research. Such funding, mostly seen in developed countries, has remained low in India. The government has so far been the main source of funds for the sector but it is now finding it difficult given the scale of expansion required. The committee, headed by N.R. Narayanamurthy, will develop a framework for engagement...

-ANI Senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Sushma Swaraj, said availing loan in India is not easy for the poor people. While addressing a function organised by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an economic wing of Hindu Radical Outfit, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, in New Delhi on Sunday. Swaraj said even the Central Government's scheme is unable to provide loan to the poor. "Taking loan is not easy in this country, people loose patience...

-IANS   Custodial killings, police abuse including torture, and failure to implement policies aimed at protecting vulnerable communities marred India's record in 2011, according to the Human Rights Watch World Report. The global report released on Monday pointed out that immunity for abuses committed by security forces also continued, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir, the northeast, and areas facing Maoist insurgency. However, the report found that killings by the Border Security Force (BSF)...

While Jammu and Kashmir government makes tall claims about the implementation of Right to Information (RTI) Act, on the contrary its departments are not furnishing the mandatory information to the State Information Commission (SIC), thereby affecting monitoring and reporting of the law. Informed sources told Greater Kashmir that majority of the administrative and field departments of the state are defaulters vis-a-vis submission of the quarterly and annual information to SIC on...